The key

Around Fley

We have a client in Rimont, a hamlet resorting under the commune of Fley. On our way to this client we always pass through Fley, and we have visited the church there several times. The first time we had made some pictures of the outside, but in front of the door that was open was mounted a grill, in order to be able to look inside. However, it was not possible to make a proper picture of the interior. During a second visit, this time on a Sunday, the grill was still locked. That churches are closed on Sundays is not as exceptional as it seems. The secularization in France has been progressing quickly lately, and some priests are serving a group of between 10 and 20 former parishes. In Chazelle for example, mass is celebrated only twice a year; in bigger villages of the parish this can be a bit more often.
There are a few possibilities to visit a church other than for a service. This is not a scientific overview, but it seems to be pretty near the truth.

The church of Fley

1. The church is opened daily by the sexton, if only to air it and get rid of some of the moisture, a real problem in a lot of churches. Fortunately this is the case with most churches around here.
2. The church is locked every day, and the key is with the mairie. In some cases someone from the mairie opens the church door when the mairie is open (which is often only some hours per week). It is always wise to check the door before one marches into the mairie.
3. The church is locked every day, and the key is with the mairie. When one asks for it, one gets the key, or, if they do not want to give the key to a stranger (this is quite rare), the key holder will be phoned or one gets name and phone number of that person. In the latter case one has to contact this key holder.

Interior seen through the grill

In Fley we encountered a fourth, and quite different possibility. The mairie is only open on Thursday afternoon, and two hours late on a Friday afternoon. When we passed by two weeks ago and asked for the key, we got no for an answer. The secretary was rather amazed that we asked for the key in the first place, and refused to hand it over to us before she had consulted the mayor. She was going to phone us as soon as the key was available for us. After we left our phone number at the mairie we went home, a bit disappointed though.

The grill

The next week we received a number of phone calls, but Fley did not call once. Reason why, two weeks later on another Thursday, we in our turn phoned the mairie in Fley. The same lady answered the phone, and this time the answer came as a surprise: “Of course, the key is on my desk, waiting for you to pick it up”. Fley is about half an hour from here by car, so we were there in no time. The mayor happened to be there too, he welcomed us very friendly, and while the secretary gave us “the” key he disappeared into his office.

Interior

The church is very close to the Mairie, hence seconds later we were standing in front of the grill finding out that “the” key did not fit. Since most churches also have a side entrance, we marched around the church, but in vain. And again we went back to the mairie; however, this time we left it soon with another key marked “église – grille”. Whether the church interior was worth all the hassle, one can judge for himself by looking at the picture album…

The choir

Of course it would be fascinating to find out why we were send off the first time, and why we were helped (albeit in 2 stages) the second time. My theory is that the inhabitants of Fley had chosen a new mayor during the elections in March (however, this is a fact), and that this mayor appointed a new secretary. She had no idea how this whole key business was supposed to be handled, and since hardly anybody ever wanted that key anyway she decided to send those awkward strangers off empty handed, thinking that these foreigners would never come back. The fact that the mayor happened to be there that afternoon, might have helped a bit as well!

Interiorr

If the church of Chazelle happens to be locked one day, the proprietors of La Tuilerie de Chazelle know where to find the key, and that is not inside the mairie!